Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Jimmy Stewart, now 88, may have had a wonderful life, but he seems somehow absent from this filibuster of a biography about him. Dewey (Marcello Mastroianni, 1993) has done his homework, interviewing scores of Hollywood co-stars, friends and family members; unfortunately, he has had to settle for secondary-source quotes from Stewart himself. After an overlong description of Stewart's hometown, ancestry and education, Dewey finally gets on track with Stewart's entre into acting, a profession he stumbled upon when the Depression spoiled his plans for an architectural career. His engaging descriptions of Stewart's early acting experiences with the University Playersa summer-stock troupeand on Broadway provide insight into the star's close and complex lifelong relationships with Henry Fonda and Fonda's first wife, Margaret Sullavan. The heart of the book provides an adequate account of Stewart's meandering career in Hollywood, from his 1935 beginner's contract with MGM to his dip into network TV during the early 1970s. Most intriguing are the descriptions of Stewart's associations with such noted directors as Frank Capra and Alfred Hitchcock. Dewey's close-up portrayal of Stewart's work on It's a Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, both by Capra, and on Hitchcock's Rear Window shows the scope of work of which Stewart was capable. Regrettably, Dewey includes tedious plot summaries for each of Stewart's movies, no matter how unimportant. Perhaps the most moving parts of the book are the last two chapters, about the deaths of Stewart's wife, Gloria, and of Fonda, his close friend, but these read almost like afterthoughts to a long and too dryly detailed study. Photos not seen by PW. (Sept.)
Library Journal
Narrator Tom Parker, one of the best in the business, is the perfect choice for this superbly written portrait of a Hollywood legend (LJ 9/1/96). Dewey offers a rare treatment of a star: an actor's career documented and analyzed with skill and integrity. After arguing persuasively that Stewart's acting ability, in range of expression and depth of emotion, exceeded that of his Hollywood contemporaries, Dewey examines all of Stewart's films and the defining events of his life in an attempt to discover the wellspring of Stewart's inspiration. This is not an easy search with any performer, and if Dewey falls short, at least he never forgets that, in the biography of an actor, the craft of acting belongs in the forefront. His interviews with Stewart's costars and directors give a clear sense of his consummate professionalism. Detailed discussions of Stewart's wife, his children, and the Jimmy Stewart Museum are less than compelling, but these are minor flaws. Highly recommended.Peter Josyph, New York
Kirkus Reviews
Biographer and novelist Dewey (Marcello Mastroianni, 1993; Reasonable Doubts, 1991) offers a voluminous, highly intelligent look at one of the richest and most complex of Hollywood star personas, not incidentally, one of the industry's most beloved actors.
Intriguingly, as Dewey ably demonstrates, Stewart is one of those actors who—thanks to generations of comedians and impressionists—we think we know cold but whose work is continually surprising. Ironically, Stewart had the kind of upbringing that people identify with his film characters: He was raised in Indiana, Penn., a small town in the middle of the state. His father, Alex, was a dominating personality, owner of a large hardware store, one of the town's most successful businesses. It was Alex who determined that his only son would follow his path to the Mercersburg Academy and Princeton. Alex was less than thrilled when Jimmy developed more of an interest in theater than in his chosen field, architecture, but the father was also shrewd enough to give him his opportunity to fail. Needless to say, he didn't. Stewart's rise was swift, moving like lightning from summer stock to Broadway to Hollywood and stardom. Dewey, as interested in the work as he is in the life, examines each of Stewart's films in considerable detail and with real acumen. Nor does he neglect Stewart's private life; he is utterly frank but never titillating about the actor's affairs with Norma Shearer, Ginger Rogers, Marlene Dietrich, and Olivia De Havilland. Also very astute is the analysis of Stewart's career choices, and the detailed recounting of his distinguished record as a bomber pilot and squad commander during WW II is downright moving. Dewey describes everything with a workmanlike prose that may not sing, but it hums nicely.
A model of how to do a serious but entertaining Hollywood biography; Dewey never loses sight of the work, which is what makes Stewart important in the first place.
